Snow Day
by AcuteCoffeePie
Summary: Steven is ecstatic to have Peridot as one of the Crystal Gems. He is so proud of how far she has come along since they first met. Now that she's an official teammate, he decided assign himself a mission: Show Peri the wonders of winter. Will she enjoy the snow, or will his attempt end in disaster? (Note: This takes place before Lapis' joins the CGs.)
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Dad!" Steven exclaimed as he zipped up his jacket, the chilly wind nipping at his nose while doing so. "I'm gonna head over to the barn to see Peridot!"

Greg turned down the loud rock music he was enthusiastically jamming out to. He then poked his head out of the van's window. "Huh? Sorry, Steven. I didn't hear ya."

"I said I'm going to go to the barn! I wanna introduce Peri to the snow!"

"Well, alright." Greg bit his lip anxiously. "But don't stay out too late. It's supposed to get even colder later on." He sighed and turned up the heat. "As horrendous as that sounds." he said, under his breath.

"Will do, Buckaroo!" Steven promised, while giving his father a solid salute before running off. He excitedly raced out of the car wash's parking lot and into the sleepy streets of Beach City. Happily, he swung around light poles, skid across frozen puddles, and kicked small piles of snow. It was rather quiet on this freezing winter day. Most of the town's residents were staying indoors, doing all they possibly could to stay warm. Despite the fact that it was a Wednesday, school was cancelled due the immense amount of freezing precipitation the dreary clouds above have released upon the land. This, of course, brought great joy to the children. Well, except for Steven, who was homeschooled. That's beside the point, though.

As he pranced past The Big Donut, he spotted none other than the city's grumpiest citizen: Lars. Lars was busy shoveling snow off the store's sidewalk, a mean expression stamped on his face while doing so. He became distracted from his tedious chore when he heard a young boy's voice call out his name. He groaned. It could only be one person.

"Hiya, Lars!" greeted Steven, waving his hand while doing so. "Whatcha up to?"

The man in question sighed. "Gee, I don't know. What does it look like?" He continued shoveling. "And anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, I'm just on my way to visit a new friend, but I thought I'd drop by to say hello to my good buddy!" Steven playfully punched him in the arm. "Oh, and to pick up a couple of donuts, of course! See, Peridot, my friend hasn't seen snow before and I thought-"

"Eh, I don't care." Lars said, waving his hand dismissively. "Just go get your food and leave. Haven't you bugged me enough?"

"Haha! Oh, Lars, you jokester. Well, have a good day and stay warm!" He skipped into the bakery, made some polite conversation with the beloved blonde, Sadie, and bought two of his favorite kind of donuts: the ones with pink icing and multicolored sprinkles. After bidding her farewell, he made his way out. He wasn't quite done with running errands just yet. There were still two more stops to make before meeting up with his new, nerdy friend: Fish Stew Pizza and Beach Citywalk Fries. As he entered the pizza parlor, he was instantly washed over by a the delicious aroma of melted cheese, baked bread, and cooked fish. The warmth of the building was much appreciated. A huge, genuine grin spread across his rosy-cheeked face.

"Hey, Steven!" Kiki said, stepping out of the kitchen. She whipped out her cell phone and began texting away to who, Steven assumed, would be a friend. The bubble gum in her mouth popped and snapped while doing so. "Will it be the usual, today?" she asked, not even looking up from the screen.

"Nah." he answered. He loosened his scarf a tad, as it was pretty hot in the restaurant. "I actually just want two personal pan cheese pizzas, please."

"Sweet, let me tell Dad." Kiki slipped the phone into her pocket and turned towards the kitchen. She then cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting "YO, DAD! MAKE TWO PERSONAL PAN PIZZAS FOR STEVEN, PLEASE!"

There was some not-so-nice grumbling from behind the door. Kofi opened it slightly and stuck his head out. A frustrated expression was on his face.

"Kiki, there is no need to holler! Why didn't you just come in here and tell me?" he questioned.

She shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Didn't feel like it."

"Aye, I swear. Sometimes, I-" he suddenly noticed Steven standing awkwardly before him. "Oh, hello, Steven. What kind of pizzas did you want, again?"

Steven straightened up. "Cheese, if you please!"

"On it. Kiki, will you ring him up while I get started on his food?" He then returned to the kitchen. Kiki sighed and went over to the cash register. Steven gleefully tagged along.

"Soooo, am I the first customer of the day?"

"Mmhm." She replied, totaling his order. "Aight, that'll be…$8 exactly."

Steven handed her required amount of money. "Here ya go! Oh, and how long will it take for those to be finished cooking?"  
"Mmm about-" The register dinged, signaling the transaction a success. "Like, 15 minutes or so."

"Perfect! Thanks!" Steven was relieved to hear this. That would be just enough time for him to dash over to the Fryman's place. He thought it would be a great idea to borrow a few VHS tapes from the town's local conspiracist, Ronaldo. Peridot recently finished the Camp Pining Hearts series and she's been sulking ever since. Turns out, Percy and Pierre did not end up together. As if the fact that her OTP remained fanon wasn't enough, the final episode proved to be quite anticlimactic and left many burning questions unanswered. Peri was so upset about all this that she's become asocial. Not only that, but she's been rather gloomy, too. Steven, being the good friend he is, was concerned. He needed to do something that'd break her out of rut she dug herself. What better way to cheer someone up than by having a snowball fight? Or eating pizza? Or watching a movie? He could feel the excitement bubble and overflow within him. Nothing made him happier than seeing a loved one smile.


	2. Author's note

Hey, guys! Thanks for the reviews and faves! :) They mean a lot! Anyway, first, I'd like to apologize for taking so long to update this story. It's just been hard to find time to write, what with getting ready for college, work, vacation, and all that. Man, I can't believe it's August. Time sure flies when you spent most of the summer watching SU episodes, viewing SU fan art, and making SU shipping lists...As you can see, I have no life. :)

Okay, I'm mostly done with chapter two and should have it up no later than Saturday. I originally planned this fan fic being a simple, fluffy one shot. However, more and more words pumped out of me onto my Google docs page. Next thing I knew, I was reaching the the 2,000 word count (and it's still increasing). So, I decided it'd be best to separate the story into a few chapters.

Oh, and one more thing: I made an oopsie in chapter one. I used Kiki, when I meant to use Jenny. *facepalms into oblivion* Yeah, I don't know how I did that, either. Apparently, it's fairly common to confuse the twins' names. Huh. :P Glad I'm not alone.

Alright, well, that's all I got for now. Hope you guys have a good day!

P.S. MY BABY JASPER IS CORRUPTED! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Someone, save her!


	3. Chapter 2

As Steven approached the Fryman's residence, he saw Peedee in the front of building. When he got a tad closer, he noticed that he was stapling a piece of paper to the front side of the door. Curiosity washing over him, he picked up the pace a little and called out to his friend.

"Peedee! Hey! What's up?" Steven asked, when he reached his destination.

"N-n-not much." he replied, heavily stuttering from the low temperature. "J-just putting up a sign saying that w-we're c-clo-" Peedee's face suddenly scrunched up and his arm shot up to cover his mouth. "ACHOO!"

"Oooh." Steven visibly cringed. "You don't sound too good, pal."

"Ugh, I got this k-killer cold. My head's p-p-pounding. My stomach is hurting. Plus, I haven't stopped s-sneezing since, like, yesterday!" he sniffed. "Steven, do me a solid and just kill me."

"Heh, well, I'm afraid I can't. Unfortunately, I sort of have this policy of NOT murdering my friends and family soooo you're outta luck there."

Peedee swore internally. "Eck, thanks anyway. What I was t-trying to say ear-earlier is that we'll be closed t-today due to the weather."

Steven nodded. "Yeah, I understand. I heard it was supposed to get worse tonight."

"Seriously? F-for the love of-grrr. Nevermind. S-so, what brings y-you here on this freezing, atrocious m-m-morning?"

"Ah, well, I was just wondering if Ronaldo is home. I want to borrow a couple of movies from him to show to my new friend." Steven jerked his thumb up towards a hill. "Her name is Peridot and she's now an official Crystal Gem! She lives at the barn, currently, and this will be her very first snow day ever! I really really reaaaallly want to make it a special experience for her." He lifted the bag of donuts, signaling Peedee to notice them. "I already stopped by the Big Donut and placed an order for a couple of mini pizzas. She's never tried any earth food before, so I thought I'd be the one to introduce her to one of our planet's greatest wonders."

Peedee hesitantly nodded in confused agreement. He did not entirely understand what the Crystal Gems were all about, other than being aliens who often saved the world. The only other piece of knowledge he has about them is that they apparently had super powers. Part of him wanted to ask more about this 'Peridot.' Where did she come from? When did she get here? How'd she get here? However, another, much more overpowering part of him, was too tired to care. He cleared his throat "I...see. Yeah, my b-brother is here. I think he's in his r-r-room blogging about s-sneeple or whatever." he rolled his eyes. "Hey, that seems l-like a lot of stuff to carry all the w-way to the barn. Want to have one of our plastic bags? It'll be easier to c-carry your luggage that way."

Steven beamed. "Sure! Thanks, buddy!"

"Sweet." Peedee nodded his head towards the door. "Let's go."

The duo hurriedly entered the boardwalk building. Peedee slammed the door shut behind him, blocking out the cold weather he despised so much. He let out huge sigh of relief. In his mind, he swore not to step into the outside world ever again. Well, at least for the day. Taking off his jacket and folding it over his arm, he gestured Steven to follow him.

The first thing Steven noticed when going in the Fryman's place was how dark it was. Almost all the lights in the kitchen were turned off. It gave him a bit of a creepy vibe. Visions of a living Frybo costume, that he fought so many months ago, suddenly seeped into his mind and his entire body stiffened at the horrifying memory. He made a mental note to never go in the place again, unless absolutely necessary. The only source of illumination was the tiny lightbulb inside the microwave, whose door was ajar. Another aspect that was brought to Steven's attention was how the room smelled like cooking oil. Cooking oil and something else. He took a big whiff of the odor to determine what exactly it was. It occurred to him. The scent belonged to that of burnt french fries. Now, he could not only envision Frybo, but smell him, as well.

"Oh, yeah." he whispered to himself as he followed Peedee out of the atrocious room. "Definitely never coming back here again."

"Huh? What'd y-ya say, m-man?" Peedee asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Oh! Er, um, nothing." Steven sheepishly replied.

As they both turned around a corner, they were now what appeared to be the living room. It seemed much nicer than where he was previously. The wallpaper was a welcoming eggshell white and the carpet was a warm, mocha brown. The lamp by couch was on, which gave the area a soft, fuzzy appeal. Mr. Fryman was lounging in the recliner, looking more bored than ever as he surfed through the television's never ending stream of channels.

"Ugh." he grumbled. "There's just NOTHING good on today!" he griped, his head resting on his hand.

"H-hey, Dad." Peedee said.

swerved around and gave a polite grin when noticing Steven.

"Well, hi there, Steven! How are ya today? Pretty crummy weather we're having, am I right?"

Steven chuckled. "I'm doing great! Thanks for asking. I don't know. I kinda like the snow." He gave a weak shrug. "It's one of my favorite things about winter."

"Kid, I would have wholeheartedly agreed back when I was your age. Unfortunately, as you get older, you become more intolerant to the cold. Plus, it's not good for my business, ya know?"

Before Steven could reply, Peedee spoke up. "D-Dad, I put u-u-up that sign like you wanted m-me to- ACHOO!"

"Yikes, kiddo. I really shouldn't have sent you out there, what with that cold and all. I'm sorry about that." Mr. Fryman apologized with a look of concern. "Why don't ya stay indoors for the rest of the day? Heck, why don't ya also take tomorrow off, too? Sounds like you need all the rest that you can get."

Peedee practically shot his arms up in the air. "Yes! Please! Ugghhh. I-I've been practically D-DYING these past few days. Or at least, I FEEL like I have been. Man, I'm so s-s-sick of being so flippin' sick! Why does snow even exist?! This weather is the absolute WORST!" He took a breath to recover from his brief rant.  
"Son, calm down, there."

"Yeah!" Steven piped in. "If you get upset, you might make yourself even MORE ill!" He hated seeing his close friend work himself further into sickness. "Hey, why don't you show me where you keep your bags at?" he asked, trying to get Peedee's mind off the brutal weather.

"Huh? Oh, right. They're down the hall, in the storage closet. Here, I'll go get one for you while you ask Ronaldo about his movies."

"Alrighty! That sounds great!" He turned his head around. "It was nice seeing you, Mr. Fryman!"

"You too! Stay warm, now!"

"Sure will! Thanks!" He then happily strolled down the narrow corridor. On each side of the wall were pictures of the household's residence. In one photo, a baby Peedee was in the arms of his older brother. In another, Ronaldo was blowing out the 7-shaped candle on his E.T. themed cake. Right next to it, was portrait of all three of the Frymans standing next to each other in spiffy suits and ties. There was one specific picture, however, that he especially found interesting. It hung at the very end of the hallway. It was rather small, probably the smallest one out of the entire gallery. Curiosity rising, he stepped forward, the photograph now only inches away from further inspection, he could tell that it was fairly old, though not necessarily ancient. It was definitely taken before he or Peedee or even Ronaldo were born, though. In it, were a happy couple on the shore of Beach City. The man was obviously Mr. Fryman, but younger. He'd never seen the woman before, however. She wasn't much shorter than the man. Long, brunette locks cascaded down her shoulders onto her yellow polka dot sundress. Her mouth was stretched into a laughing smile, her green eyes beaming from the glimmering sunlight.

" _Whoah. She sure looks stunning!"_ Steen thought to himself. He, then, gently grazed his fingertips across it, careful not to leave any smudges. At the bottom left corner was some writing. He squinted. The letters were severely faded, as if they were written by some cheap marker losing ink. Eventually, after some thorough analyzing, he was able to decipher the message.

"N-November 30th, 1985. Our first a-anniversary." he whispered, then leaned back.

" _Anniversary? Wait, so does that mean that this lady is...Peedee and Ronaldo's mother?"_ he scratched the back of his head in confusion. " _Hmm, why haven't I ever heard of her? What even HAPPENED to her? I wonder how long she's been out of the picture."_ He chuckled lightly at the accidental pun. " _Did she...leave? Was there a divorce? If so, why don't Ronaldo or Peedee ever visit her? Why don't they ever talk about her?"_ Steven searched for an answer or even a clue that would indicate the mother's whereabouts. He thought back to all the conversations he had with the Frymans, scanning to find any hints that would be of use. After a moment or two, he sighed in defeat. He locked his eyes to those of the mysterious mother. " _Is she even still alive?"_

It clicked.

Steven shot his hand up to his mouth in an attempt to cover a shocked gasp. A billion new questions now whizzed around in his, typically, optimistic mind. " _Of course. That… makes sense, but why? Why didn't Peedee or Ronaldo or Mr. Fryman ever say anything to me? How'd she even die, anyway?Was it-"_

"YES! MY LAST POST GAINED ME SIX MORE FOLLOWERS!"

Steven was jarred from his deep thinking by Ronaldo's voice shouting from the room to his left. Suddenly, he remembered why he even came here in the first place. He lightly tapped on the wooden door and slowly opened it, peeking his head in.

"Um, hey there. Sorry to bother you." he apologized timidly, feeling bad about interrupting.

Ronaldo took off his headphones and swirled around in his desk chair to face his unexpected visitor. "Steven! Hi! Oh, man! You will never believe what just happened to me!"

"Uhhh, more people started following your blog?"

"Nope! I-wait...yes. How did YOU know that?" Ronaldo stroked his chin. "Hmmm, is it possible, Steven, that you have gained the ability to read minds?"

"What? No! I just heard you yelling about it." Steven assured.

"Mmhm. Well, I GUESS I will believe that." Ronaldo turned back towards his computer and resumed typing. "So," he said, after a few clicks on the keyboard. "What brings you to my homebase?

"Oh! Yeah, I was wondering if you have any movies I could borrow? See, my new friend has been pretty down lately and I thought watching some flicks would cheer her up! Got any recomendations? And they'll need to be VHS tapes. She only has VCR, for now."

"I see. Hmmm. Let me go check my collection." Ronaldo jumped up from his seat and speed walked over to his shelf that stood next to his messy, unmade water bed. He glanced through the array of films until his eyes spotted one tape in particular. "Ah hah!" he snatched it out of its slot. "Has your friend witnessed the mind blowing, thought provoking, action-packed sci fi masterpiece that is Galactic Battle?" he held the video high in the air in mighty glory. "It is number one on my 'Top Ten Films Made by Sky J. Walker' list."

"Nnnnoo. I doubt she ha-"

Ronald quickly grabbed another piece from his arrangement. "OR perhaps you'd prefer to introduce her to the classic anime, Captain Luna! The animation is top notch! The storytelling is perfect! The english dub won't make your ears bleed! Overall, it gets a solid A+."

"Wow!" Steven said in awe. "They both sound amazing! Would it be okay if I borrowed both?"

"Well, alright. HOWEVER, I need you to return them to me by tomorrow, if you will. Jane will be visiting tomorrow night, so I need my beloved ohime-sama entertained."

"Sure!" Steven promised, taking the cassettes from Ronaldo. "Will do!

"Hey, Steven"

Both boys turned their attention to Peedee, who stood at the doorway.

"Oh, there you are!" Steven said. "I was wondering what happened to ya."

"Sorry it took me so long, but I had to make a quick trip to the bathroom. Here is that plastic bag for you, by the way."

"Thanks! Oh, boy. This is gonna be a great day!" he carefully placed the movies and the donuts inside the bag. "Well, I better get going. My pizzas should be done by now. I swear to return your movies, Ronaldo. Thank you for lending them to me."

Ronaldo just waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more blogging to do."

When he was done bidding everyone of the Fryman's residence farewell, Steven dashed out of the building. After stopping by the pizza parlor to pick up his order, he happily made his way to the Crystal Gems' home, cautious as to not slip on any icy puddles that were sprawled across the ground. Giving Amethyst, who was characteristically raiding the fridge, a speedy hello, he warped himself to the barn. Let Peridot's first ever snow day begin.


	4. Author's Note pt 2 (sorry, y'all)

Hey, y'all. I'd just like to, first and foremost, apologize for having the second chapter quite when planned. I was typing the rest out Saturday night, when I decided to take a break and surf the web...and then I stumbled upon a new MLP episode. Heh. Yeaaaahh, bad decision. Next thing I knew, it was past midnight. So I quickly got back to business and updated the story. However, I shouldn't have been such a procrastinator, and for that, I sincerely apologize.

Also, some of you may be wondering why I focused so heavily on the Fryman's in this chapter. After all, the story is supposed to be about Peridot, right? Well, here's the thing: One of my favorite things about the show is Steven's interactions with the everyday citizens of Beach City. Each connection he has with them is unique. I believe it's worth diving into, from time to time. Another reason for this being a Fryman centered chapter is that I have been thinking of writing a fic in which Steven finally asks Peedee about his never-seen mother. If I do decide to go through with it, I'll probably write after I'm done with Snow Day.

Anyway, just thought I'd check in with you guys. :) Hope you are all having a wonderful day! Don't forget! School's just around the corner! *sobs uncontrollably*

P.S. All the fans who harassed Lauren Zuke, a member of the Crewniverse, off of Twitter can go sit in the shame corner for all eternity.


	5. Another Author's Note

Hey, guys! It's me again! Sorry for making so many author's notes and for not uploading a new chapter lately. I've just been extremely busy settling into college, doing assignments, and going to work. ^^; Regardless, I should've said something sooner. I apologize for that. ANYWAY, since it's a three day weekend, I have plenty of time to start working on chapter 3! :) I, hopefully, will have it up by Monday evening. There will probably be only one more chapter after that. Then, I plan to get started on another SU fanfic. ;)

Alright, you guys have a wonderful weekend! :D


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